Tenders close for new CRC host

Three Victorian institutes, the MacFarlane Burnet Institute for Medical Research and Public Health, the University of Melbourne and the Victorian Infectious Diseases Reference Laboratory, have applied to host the WHO Collaborative Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, which is currently based at the CSL site in Parkville, Melbourne.

The federal government has put up funds for a new host for the Centre and tenders were due in last Friday.

"The reference lab doesn't really fit with the commercial outfit that CSL is," said Steve Wessellingh, director of the Burnet Institute. "We have put in a tender for this as we think it would fit very nicely with the Burnet. We could get samples from them, along with training, and combine this with our local expertise."

The WHO Collaborating Centre acts to strengthen epidemiological surveillance and laboratory diagnosis of influenza, and plays an important role in the identification of new strains and the development of prevention strategies.

The Centre is also involved in monitoring anti-microbial resistance patterns, the standardisation of terminology and nomenclature of therapeutics and technologies, as well as training, particularly research training.

A significant number of Burnet Institute employees work in the field countries across South-East Asia, addressing public health issues in infectious diseases.

Wesselingh said this makes the Burnet well-placed to host the Centre, particularly in light of the outbreaks of the H5N1 influenza that have recently been reported in Asia.